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development of Soviet law

...aspects of the Soviet legal system were effectively subordinate to the leadership of the Soviet Communist Party. Legislation was debated and approved by top party leaders and then transmitted to the
Supreme Soviet, the Soviet Union’s legislature, for unanimous rubber-stamp approval. The court system was designed to ensure party control of judicial decisions at all levels. Juries—which had...

operation in

Ukraine

...1990 the only legal political party in Ukraine was the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU), which was a branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Major legislation approved by the Ukrainian
Supreme Soviet originated in, or was approved by, the CPU. A change to the Ukrainian constitution in October 1990 allowed nascent political parties to be officially recognized. Subsequently, a wide...

U.S.S.R.

...the U.S.S.R. was formed by the Soviets (Councils) of People’s Deputies. These existed at all levels of the administrative hierarchy, with the Soviet Union as a whole under the nominal control of the
Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., located in Moscow. This body had two chambers—the Soviet of the Union, with 750 members elected on a single-member constituency basis; and the Soviet of...

Elections to the U.S.S.R. Congress of People’s Deputies, which replaced the U.S.S.R.
Supreme Soviet as the highest organ of state power, took place in March 1989. About 88 percent of the deputies were communists, but by then the Communist Party was no longer a monolithic party. The congress elected from among its members a bicameral legislature (called the
Supreme Soviet), each house having 271...